Monygham is thinking of his plan to betray Sotillo by tempting him with false information regarding the whereabouts of the silver, a plan that might well lead to his own torture. But the ironic tone of professorial lecturing continues. It is as if the professor of cynicism is now saying, "Life can be so unendurable that one envies the dead -- did you know that?" On the level of Nostromo trying to resist this dark lecture, the phrase "the remaining light" has a double meaning.

Note also that Nostromo does not actually hear this terrible affirmation. On the surface this is due to distraction, but compare "the popular mind is incapable of scepticism" earlier in this chapter , and also Nostromo's one brush with suicidal thoughts. There is another level at which Nostromo, and by implication the People, are too focused on life to ever long for death, or even hear the suggestion that one can.